Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the second-largest city in the United States after New York City, located in southern California. The city was founded on 4 September 1781 by 44 settlers, who were of mixed African, indigenous, and Spanish ancestry. Ever since then, Los Angeles has been a city with large African-American and Latino populations, and its diversity led to it becoming a global city. When the Mexican-American War in 1846-1848 led to the United States taking over California, tens of thousands of settlers moved out west to settle the newly-conquered lands, and Los Angeles rapidly grew in size. On 4 April 1850, Los Angeles became a municipality, and the discovery of oil led to a population boom.

Los Angeles developed a large metropolitan area that came to incorporate several nearby cities such as Compton and Long Beach, and it became the second-largest city in America. During the 20th century, Hollywood became a center of entertainment, Beverly Hills became a home to the very wealthy and the celebrities, Signal Hill became an important sector of the oil industry, Venice Beach and Malibu became popular beaches for tourists and beach bums, Compton became a center of African-American culture (including hip-hop), East Los Angeles became a center of Mexican culture, and the San Gabriel Mountains became a scenic beauty that many coveted. In 2016, L.A. had a population of 18,351,929 people, a diverse population that included people of all races and religions.